Walter p



(No Model.)

W. P. ELLIOTT.

METHOD OF MAKING ILLUMINATING GAS.

No. 327, Patented Oct. 6, 1885.

17 0526655662 MM W N. PETERS Pnowmho n her, walhin mn. ac

llnrrTan STATES PATENT Urrrca.

WALTER I. ELLIOTT, OF NEW BRUNSWICK, NEW JERSEY.

METHOD OF MAKING lLLUMlNATlNG-GAS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 327,541, dated October 6, 1885. Application filed January 12, 1885. Serial No. 152,589. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WALTER P. ELLIOTT, of New Brunswick, in the county of Middlesex and State of New Jersey, have invented a new and useful Improvement in the Method of Making Illuminating-Gas, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to the method of making gas by decomposing steam and adding to the products of decomposition the hydrocarbon vapors evolved from bituminous coal in process of distillation and sufficient vapor of naphtha or other liquid hydrocarbon to produce a rich and desirable illuminating-gas.

My improvement in this method consists in charging retorts partly full of bituminous coal and in charging a generating-furnace with fuel; in blowing up the furnace and passing the products of combustion through the retortchamber and around the retorts; in then decomposing steam in the furnace and passing the resulting water gas through the retort chamber and around the retorts; in admitting hydrocarbon liquid directly into the retortchamber and vaporizing it around the retorts, whereby the vapor, as soon as formed, is taken up by the water gas, and in delivering both the gas and the products of distillation from those ends of the retort chamber and retorts which are most distant from the generatingfurnace, where they mingle together.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a vertical section of one form of apparatus which may be employed in carrying out my invention, and Fig. 2 is a partial transverse section thereof on the plane of the dotted line 00 00, Fig. 1.

Similar letters of reference designate corresponding parts in both the figures.

The apparatus here shown is similar to that shown and described in my application for Letters Patent, Serial No. 142,27 9, dated September 5, 1884, and but a brief description thereof is necessary. It comprises a generating-furnace, A, a chamber, B, wherein are a number of retorts, G, of ordinary character and open at both ends, and an upright chamber or stack, D, wherein is arranged fire-brick or other refractory material a. These tiles or fire-brick may be arranged or piled in cobhouse fashion, or otherwise placed to offer an extensive surface. At the top of chamber D is an escape flue or aperture, 1), from which may lead a smoke-flue and pipe for the delivery of gas, the passage of smoke and gas being controlled by any suitable arrangement of valves, such as are well known in gas apparatus.

The several parts of the structure may be built of brick, and have an inclosing metal shell, 0, within which may be a layer of pulverized fire-brick, ashes, or othersnit-able material.

In the generatingfurnace A is a grate, d, which may be composed of pipe, through which a circulation of water is maintained, and below the grate is an ash-pit door, 6, and an aperture, f, for the inflow of air from any suitable source of supply-such as a fan-blower or other air pumping or forcing apparatus. Above the grate may be provided one or more stokingholes, g, and the fuel is fed through an inlet opening or throat, h, at the top, pro vided with a suitable cover, it.

The chamber B extends approximately horizontally from above the furnace A,with which it communicates by passages i i to the lower part of chamber D. In said chamber the retorts O are arranged, as here shown, horizontally, and they are supported by tiles j, projecting inward from and set into the walls of the chamber. In the tile-supports j are openingsj, arranged as shown in Fig. 1, whereby the gaseous products from the furnace A are compelled to take a circuitous course in pass ing from the furnace to and thence through the vertical chamber D. I have shown an air-inlet, 7c, in the bottom of the chamber D, through which air may be supplied to promote combustion of the gaseous products from the furnace, and thereby the refractory material a. in the chamber D becomes highly heated.

In the front wall of the chamber B are retort-mouths Z,which are closed by suitable doors, Z, and through which the open'ended retorts C may be charged with bituminous coal an. After charging, the front ends of the retorts are to be closed by stoppers n, which may be made of fire-clay or other suitable material, and are cut down at the middle of their length to decrease their weight. As shown, these stoppers a rest in the front ends of the retorts O, which they close, and also in the retort-mouths l,- and they may be readily removed when it is desired to charge the retort O. The stoppers n are not shown in Fig. 2. It will therefore be seen that the only provision for the escape of products of distillation from the retorts G is at their rear ends and at the end of the chamber 13, from which issue gaseous products from the furnace into the chamber D.

I also provide one or more pipes, 0two being here shownthrough which naphtha or other volatile liquid hydrocarbon may be introduced into the chamber B on the outside of the retorts. The liquid hydrocarbon may be taken from an elevated reservoir, a pump, or other source of supply, and its inflow may be regulated by valves 0.

I also provide a pipe, p-in this instance entering below the grate d--through which steam may be introduced to passthrough the mass of fuel in the generator. The passage of steam is controlled by a valve, 1). I have also shown in the furnace A, above the fuel therein, an inlet, q, for air.

In the operation of the apparatus the generatorA is charged with anthracite coal, coke, or other fuel, and the retorts O are charged with bituminous coal m, and the stoppers a insertedinto their front ends. Air is then admitted through the aperture f, and also through and q, if desired, and the blowingup is continued until the fuel in the generating furnace A is raised to a point of incandescence and the bituminous coal m is raised to a distilling heat. The products of combustion pass upward through the chamberD and out at the escape-passage b, thereby heating the contained refractory material to a high temperature. The air is then shut off and steam turned on through the pipe 19, and oil through the pipe or pipes 0. The steam in passing upward through the mass of incandescent fuel is decomposed, and as the products of decomposition pass around the retorts O to the rear ends thereof, they meet and take up the hydrocarbon vapors which have been produced in the chamber 13 by the heated exterior of the retorts. As the mingled products of decomposition and vapor leave the chamber B, at the rear end thereof, they meet and take up the products of distillation issuing from the rear end of the retorts O, and the rich gas thus produced passes upward through the chamber B and among the refractory material a, whereby the vapors are fixed and a permanentilluminatinggas produced. When the charge of coal at in a retort, O, is dis tilled, the coke is pulled forward and drops into the furnace A through the passages 2',

thereby forming fuel for the generator. When the fuel in the generator has cooled to a temperature which is no longer suitable for decomposition, air is again admitted for blowing up, and the operation is repeated, as above described.

I am aware of United States Patents to John L. Stewart, No. 295,832, granted March 25, 1884, and No. 301,531, granted July 8,

1884, and do not desire to claim in this application anything therein shown or described as of my invention. In each of these patents the retorts are to be filled entirely full of bituminous coal, and their only outlet is at the end which is over the generating-furnace. In each of said patents the oil to be vaporized is not admitted directly into the retort-chamber and vaporized around theoutside of the retorts, but is first admitted into a separate re tort in the rctortchamber, and is therein vaporized, and the hydrocarbon vapors are not added to the watergas until they escape from this oil-retort. In both these patents it is intended to deliver all the products of distillation from the retorts directly into the generating-furnace. My method differs from those described in the patents above referred to in several important particulars. I do not deliver the products of distillation from the retorts into the generating-furnace to then mingle with the watergas, but deliver the watergas and products of distillation from the retorts at those ends of the retort-chamber and retorts which are remote from the furnace, and they are not until then mingled together. I do not vaporize liquid hydrocarbon in a separate heated retort, but deliver it directly into the retort-chamber, and as soon as it is vaporized it is at once taken up by the watergas, and hence the vapor is by the water-gas shielded from excessive heat, and no part thereof is destroyed.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The improvement in the method of making illuminating-gas consisting in charging a generating-furnace with fuel, in blowing up the furnace, and passing the products of combustion through the retort chamber and around the retorts, in then decomposing steam in the furnace and passing the resulting wa- IlO tergas through the retort-chamber and around the retorts, in admitting hydrocarbon liquid directly into the retort-chamber and vaporizing it around the retorts, whereby the vapor as soon as formed is taken up by the watergas, and in delivering both the gas and the products of distillation from those ends of the retort-chamber and retorts which are most distant from the generating-furnace, where they mingle together, substantially as herein described.

\VALIER I. ELLIOTT. WVitnesses.

O. HALL, MATTHEW POLLOCK. 

